Solar-charging headphones, an app that silences gunshots, and more (pictures)

At an event in London, the CEA invited companies to show off some of the wackier accessories and gadgets that will be on show at the 2014 CES show in Las Vegas.

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On Beat Solar headphones

LONDON -- The CEA is on its annual world tour drumming up interest for the 2014 CES, the massive tech show it runs every year in Las Vegas. To accompany its press conference, it invited a bunch of companies to its event to showcase the products they will be pushing at the show.

First up is the On Beat Solar headphones, featuring a solar charger in the headband. The solar charger powers two lithium ion batteries located in the cans: plugging them into a phone charges the battery while you listen to music. The people behind it are self-funded and hope to have it in the market for around £100 ($162 US) by next March if there's enough interest.

Gunsonics

Coming soon to an app store near you: an app that silences gunshots. Yes, really. The makers' idea is that you will wear normal earbuds with a standard microphone built into the cable, then standard ear defenders on top.

The app listens for gunshots and removes the noise from the audio feed, so you and your friend can shoot things without interrupting your conversation. It'll be out for iPhone in the next few weeks for $10, with an Android version to follow. The mind boggles.

Sunnycam 2

Google Glass may be where all the buzz is at, but these sunglasses can also record video. The Sunnycam is out now, but there will be an upgraded version out at CES that can shoot 1080p video at 60fps. The battery will last for 3 hours. That's right: a whole 3 hours.

Arcam AirDAC and IrDAC

British hi-fi company Arcam has been going since 1972, and has had to adapt to keep up with the times. The AirDAC (top left) is designed to offer a hi-fi quality Airplay upgrade to an existing system using what the company says is an audiophile-level DAC. It has Coax, Optical, and Ethernet ports and will be out in November for $700. The IrDAC (top right) is just out, also costs $700, and is designed to upgrade a whole AV system with a better DAC.

Damson Jet

No trade show event is complete without a box that turns any flat surface into a speaker, and so it proved today. Damson was the winner of a UK government competition last year that got it a free stand at CES, and this year it's pushing the Jet. This is a portable speaker that's sold in pairs, so unlike some speaker-from-a-flat-surface rivals, you get proper stereo sound. It uses Blueooth to keep the sound in sync between speakers, and it launches this week for $199.

Energenie Sharegenie and Chargegenie

The boxes at the front of this picture are the Sharegenie from Energenie. They are portable Wi-Fi hot spots that can share an Ethernet or 4G USB Internet connection via a built-in 802.11 a/b/g/n router. Pictured at the back is the Chargegenie 10K Power Bank, which is basically a big battery with two USB ports. Both will ship in Q1 for a mysterious price.